5 Tasty Diet Desserts

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Satisfying a sweet tooth can be tricky when you’re trying to reach or maintain an ideal weight. You want to enjoy dessert without racking up fat and calories or triggering the urge to overeat.

All healthy lifestyle diets stress fruit for dessert, but grapes and bananas can get boring fast. Add pizzazz to your fruit-picking with exotic tastes like mango and papaya, or splurge on fresh raspberries and cherries.

For a refreshing icy dessert, make a slushy by blending chunks of any frozen fruit with fat-free milk.

For a parfait, mix sugar substitute and vanilla or lemon extract into plain fat-free yogurt and layer with berries in a tall glass. Top with a sprinkling of crushed walnuts.

Enhance fat-free frozen yogurt with mix-ins like vanilla bean, freeze-dried instant coffee or a tablespoon of mini chocolate chips, or top a serving with a sauce of pureed fruit.

For a hot dessert, try a baked apple or a poached pear — then flavor with spices like ginger, cinnamon or nutmeg.

According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, baked goods aren’t always off limits either. You can streamline the calories and boost the nutrients in many desserts by using whole grains instead of white flour and low-fat dairy instead of full-fat dairy. Simply reduce the sugar content and use fruit as the base.

It might take some experimenting to find the tastiest tweaks to your favorite recipes, but think of it as part of the fun.

More information

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has more tips on healthier baking for sweet and savory dishes.

Source: HealthDay

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